


Birthday Boy

by fangirl_outlet



Series: Reylo oneshots [4]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: ALL THE FLUFF, Ben Solo Lives, Ben is one of the gang now, F/M, Post-Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Resistance Member Ben Solo, and the gang is all together, birthday boy Ben
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:06:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22855183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fangirl_outlet/pseuds/fangirl_outlet
Summary: Ben Solo might not have told Rey exactly when his life-day was, but that didn't mean she was any less determined to plan something special now that they could enjoy their post-Exegol lives. With the help of the resistance gang, Ben Solo is going to get a surprise party whether he likes it or not.The fluffiest, sappiest thing I could write to celebrate our boy's 31st birthday!
Relationships: Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: Reylo oneshots [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1633939
Comments: 8
Kudos: 74





	Birthday Boy

On his thirty-first life day, Ben Solo was snoring softly in a bed that just barely contained his lumbering frame. He wound himself tightly around a girl, nuzzling into her soft brown hair that fanned out against their pillows.

But Rey was good at wiggling out of tight situations. Even when the warmth of his chest, the tickle of his breath on her neck, and the firm insistence of _something else_ against her lower back tried to convince her otherwise.

“Shhh,” she brushed back a few dark locks away from Ben’s face as he stirred searching for her heat. “Don’t fight too much with the boys.”

Ben mumbled absolute nonsense in unconscious agreement, and Rey folded his arms back around him and drew the blanket up around his shoulders.

He looked younger in his sleep. Even younger than when he smiled, which he had been doing more of lately. Even when Rey wasn’t looking. Sometimes she’d catch him, just staring at the jungle around them and smiling as the sun kissed his skin. Other times, rarer but they existed, she even caught him chuckling at one of Finn’s jokes in the mess hall.

But her brow furrowed as she remembered her guarded expression when Rey asked about his life day. He was so _sweet_ for hers, bringing her new plants for their bunker and personally kicking the cooks out of the mess hall to make her a personal buffet. But Poe remembered, and that’s Rey began to hatch her plan.

Pressing a quick kiss to his forehead, Rey stole away into the early morning light.

***

“Do we really _have_ to do this?” Finn practically pouted over the meager bowl of jogan fruit Rose had bribed him with to even be sitting down at this table, _entertaining_ this conversation.

Rey sighed. “If you two aren’t there to distract him, he’s going to know something’s up.”

“As long as you’re perfectly aware that this plan carries a very high risk of bodily injury and potential arrest for one – if not all four of us – and are willing to post our bail,” Poe raised his hands up. “I’m down to help.”

“Fine.”

Poe grinned. Neither him nor Finn knew Solo all that well, though not for lack of trying. On Poe’s part at least. It wasn’t that the former trooper and former supreme leader of asshats still had bad blood per se, but Finn was always aiming his blaster a _hair_ too close to Ben and Ben still could throw a _mean_ stony glare.

But he reminded Poe of his mother that way. And how he handled a blaster in a battle – straight shots, no flourishes, covering your back when you didn’t even realize it was exposed. That was a Leia trait too.

So, in short, Poe had about ten “activities” that may or may not have Rey speaking to him when the afternoon was done that would get even Finn and Ben to have fun for a few hours.

“Just try to keep your,” Poe wiggled his fingers at her. “You know, on mute. If he reads your mind, or however that works, we’ll have spent a very dangerous afternoon together for nothing.”

Rey rested her hand on Jannah’s shoulder. “Please make sure they don’t end up throwing themselves off a speeder.”

“No promises,” she grinned back.

***

Rose huffed as she leaned back to take in her creation. It took three days, four hours and twenty-seven minutes, but she finally, _finally_ perfected an authentic sic-six-layer cake.

When Rey came to her two weeks ago with big pleading eyes and a face full of flour, Rose knew the situation was dire. The indiscernible baked _something_ Rey had tried to make blazing in the corner of the kitchen was an unnecessary, albeit concerning detail.

So that’s how Rose found herself planning to tackle one of the biggest enigmas she had ever faced – Ben Solo’s appetite.

“Ta da!” She waved her arms when C3PO waddled in. “Is it perfect? Or is it perfect?”

The golden droid scurried over to inspect, bending slightly at his metal hips and tilting his head as his unblinking eyes peered at the flawless icing.

“It _appears_ to be perfectly adequate Admiral Tico,” it said. “But, if you don’t mind me pointing out, this type of dessert is most frequently made without the choco layer. It was too sweet, you see, most species on Coruscant preferred tarter tastes.”

Rose smiled softly. She remembered Ben, sitting alone tucked into a corner of the base, just a few weeks after Rey brought him back from the nightmare world of Exegol. His big brown eyes widened when she sat down next to him at the tiny table, across the room from where Finn and Poe had already started to devour their dinner.

_“You know Rey is out on a mission tonight, right?” he asked her, his deep voice softer than she imagined. “She—she won’t be coming to sit with me.”_

_“I know that Benjamin,” Rose tore a piece of bread off and plopped it in her mouth._

_She could see the tips of his eyes turn pink as he worked his jaw. “You know, really, I appreciate it, but you don’t have to sit at the loser’s table.”_

_“I’m aware.” Another piece of bread. “Doing talking with two generals isn’t exactly my idea of cool.”_

_The two sat in silence for a bit, when Rose noticed Ben eyeing her corner piece of choco cake. She cut it in half and slid it over to his tray._

_“So you really managed to get the Falcon an upgraded hyperdrive? That thing was older than me, and probably – maybe a close second – more beat up.”_

_Rose laughed._

“Yeah, I did that on purpose 3PO. Now help me with the piping, it’ll come out neater than my handwriting.”

***

When Jannah and Poe finally got Finn on to his feet and out of excuses, Ben wasn’t in his bunk anymore.

“Welp, guess he’s not here,” Finn shrugged. “We can tell Rey we tried.”

Jannah’s hand caught him in the chest and urged him back in one gentle motion.

“Gee. If only there was one of us here that could do the,” she waved her fingers at him. “And find him with their mind? Doesn’t he like ooze the Force or something.”

“That’s not how the Force works,” Finn rolled his eyes.

“And that’s not a visual I want!” Poe chirped.

They finally found him, alone, amongst the trees. He was kneeling in the grass, his dark hair hung low over his eyes. His eyes were closed and his breathing was steady even as a tear trickled down his face. With no body to bury, this is the place where the resistance made a memorial to his parents – the great Han Solo and Leia Organa.

Jannah shifted uncomfortably next to a morose Poe and Finn. She didn’t know the general. Hell, she barely knew her own father. But looking over at Ben, the large looming man with the round eyes of a boy, she couldn’t help but think how in a different life, they would have grown up together. He would have been like an older brother, the two of them joy riding in the Falcon – maybe he’d even teach her how to swing that fancy light sword of his.

Ben might not have his parents anymore, but he was the reason she was starting to understand hers. Some nights he’d sneak out some trandoshan ale from Poe’s personal stash and the two of them would sit together in the Falcon. Ben would tell her all the stories he heard from his mother about the pair Lando and Han made back in their days, the abuse they put their prized ship through, and the trouble Ben was never supposed to overhear to drunk old friends laugh about.

“Hey Solo!” she called down.

Ben’s eyebrows shot up at the strange greeting party. “Um, hello? Are you guys looking for Rey?” He got up, brushed off his knees and trudged up the hill. “I haven’t seen her this morning, so if the Falcon’s not here I won’t be much help.”

“Believe it or not Solo,” Finn said. “You’re just the guy we’re looking for.”

“Need a tune up on your speeder? I thought your girlfriend didn’t want anyone tinkering with that anymore.”

Poe clapped one arm around Ben’s broad shoulders, pushing up on his top toes to do so, as Ben looked around, mildly bewildered.

“Boy do we have a day for you!”

“And we’ve already packed the bacta strips,” Jannah laughed, punching him lightly in the shoulder.

****

Kaydel stretched out her hand, pointer finger and thumb extended, and squinted at the lantern Rey was hanging on a tree across the clearing.

“No, _no_ Rey it’s got to be a little more up on the _left_ ,” she huffed. “There you go. Perfectly straight.”

Rey dusted her hands off on her dark grey pants and looked around at their handiwork. The late afternoon’s breeze made the handful of soft glowing lanterns dance in the trees they were hung on. She triple-checked she had the exact count hanging before looking back at her friend.

“It’s the closest we’re going to get without fireworks,” Kaydel said with a satisfied nod. “Leia said they always had some sort of fireworks display when she was growing up, but – I mean – that _was_ in a palace.”

“We were right to go with an Alderaan theme rather than Chandrila right?” Rey chewed at her thumbnail. “I mean what if he’s offended or its too morbid or something?”

The blonde gave Rey a level stare. They’ve been over this before – seventeen times in fact since Rey brought up her idea – and each time Kaydel reassured her.

“Trust me. This beats whatever they did on those star destroyers. Can you imagine a bunch of troopers singing for his life day while they wait for him to blow out candles?”

But while Rey had her doubts, Kaydel knew exactly what she was doing.

Growing up in Leia’s command since she was 16, Kaydel was one of the few that saw the beyond the general’s pin and princess braids she wore. Kaydel saw the worry lines in her face whenever an update came in about the elusive new apprentice Snoke was training in the early days. And in turn, Leia told the lonely Dulathian girl stories about Ben Solo – his temper tantrums, the time she caught him playing with his father’s blaster, even the how they’d remind him of a long lost planet every year on his life day.

It was a shock to actually meet him in person, Kaydel remembered. Taller than she imagined from Leia’s stories and yet not that different from the kid Leia said would hold on to her skirts when she took him to the Senate – wide eyed and glued to Rey’s side.

Kaydel eyed Rey’s wild hair and wrinkled undershirt and promptly guided her back towards the bunker.

“Now we have to get you ready,” she chuckled. “You have no idea how long Alderaanian braids take and your hair, no offense, is a tooke’s nest.”

****

Finn winced as he lifted a bacta strip to inspect the skid mark searing his left shoulder. Of course Poe thought taking a bunch of modified landspeeders and racing the through Ajan Kloss’ maze of a jungle would be “fun” and “relaxing” and “not-at-all competitive.”

That was until there was a four way race to see who could make it through the misty pass and back the fastest, _without_ falling off their speeder.

“Here, this should make it sting less.” Solo said as he dropped a cool patch of moss onto Finn’s shoulder. He plopped down next to him on the grass overlooking the base and handed him a squadron lager.

“Swiped from Poe’s stash again?”

“Yup.”

“Good.”

The two sat in silence for a while, shoulder to shoulder, watching Jannah carry Poe across her shoulders down to the infirmary.

Moments like these Finn couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the ironic pair they made. A former trooper and ex-Supreme Leader sharing a few illicit beers on a rebel base.

It was awkward at first, Finn, admittedly, a little giddy with putting Solo through more training drills than were probably necessary. But eventually Finn and Solo -- stumbling back to their bunks after a late night losing their rations to Jannah in Poe’s weekly game of secret sabaac -- haphazardly hashed out whatever the First Order left them with and made an unspoken pact to never bring it up again.

“You know you’re going to have to act surprised later,” Finn said, taking a long swig from the cool bottle.

“Yeah, I know. Tell me if this looks okay?”

Ben turned to Finn, raising his eyebrows and left his mouth slightly ajar.

Finn cocked an eyebrow, “You can’t do any better than that Solo? Rey is going to see right through it.”

***

When Ben Solo woke up on his thirty-first life day, the first thing he noticed was the distinct lack of Rey’s snoring.

He shot up in bed, immediately reaching out in the Force to find her pulse there steady and cool. Ben flopped back on the pillows and huffed. It wasn’t like he _told_ her what today was. He wasn’t even sure if he _wanted_ to do anything out of the ordinary today, considering…well…everything.

But if he was being honest, spending the day zipping through trees on a shoddy speeder – especially when he managed to officially dethrone the so called best-pilot-in-the-resistance -- left him chuckling more than he had in a long while.

He could hear the soft din of music carrying up from where he knew Rey had spent her day scurrying around when he returned to his bunker to change. It didn’t take him long to pull the fitted white shirt over his head and dark vest over his shoulders, but he wasn’t quite ready to leave just yet.

Ben perched himself on the edge of his bed, using the force to pull an old holo over to him. He turned it over, slowly, in his hands – it was something Chewie gave to him a few months ago, after he miraculously returned from Exegol and the Wookie nearly crushed him in his embrace. Flicking it on, Ben swallowed thickly as Han Solo glowed in front of him.

“Grrr!” came from outside the holo.

“Just hold the transmitter _still_ Chewie! You can go next!” his father huffed and immediately turned his finger to the left. “And I swear, if you complain Luke – _you_ can duke it out with the fur ball over here.”

“If any of you wake this baby up, I swear,” Leia shot them all a look Ben knew too well as she stepped into the frame.

In her arms was a bundle of cloth, with a wild tuff of stark black hair jutting out. Ben watched as he squirmed in his mother’s arms. Han walked over and wrapped his arms around them both, holding a small lantern in his right hand.

“Hey there, kid,” he said looking directly into the holo. “If this works out right, happy life day! Not sure how old you’ll be watching this but hopefully no matter how old we are – we’ll still be this good looking.” He grinned as Leia nudged him. “We just wanted to say, we love you, son.”

Leia smiled softly, “No matter where you are right now, or where we might be, know you are always our little angel.”

The holo turned towards the giant Wookie who cooed at him even as Lando waved from behind his massive furry shoulder and shouted something about calling dibs on taking him to his first cantina when he was older.

“Lando!” his mother chided.

Then Luke walked over and took the bundle gently from Leia. “May the Force be with you Ben. Always.”

He watched as his parents and his assortment of uncles gathered by his bedroom window and the lantern fly up into the night sky – a simple moment he remembered doing every year when he was younger.

Wiping his eyes, Ben put the holo back in his drawer and closed his eyes. Feeling a familiar warmth around him in the force, he smiled before making his way down the hill.

He expected the chorus of “Surprise!” and an overeager Rey launching herself at him and a handful of the resistance folks that didn’t outwardly oogle him in the halls to be awkwardly standing around.

But he wasn’t expecting the giant cake that dwarfed Rose and Kaydel. He wasn’t expecting Poe and Finn and Jannah to rush him into a group hug. And he wasn’t expecting Rey – a vision in a soft blue dress and her hair wrapped up in delicate braids – to have strung up thirty-one lanterns just for him.

“Are you happy?” Rey asked, as she dragged him by the hand further into the party.

“The happiest.” Ben grinned as he pulled her into a kiss, ignoring the jeers from their friends.


End file.
